Priority: Earth, Synthesis
by The Cigarette Smoking Man 2012
Summary: The events and aftermath of Priority: Earth and the Synthesis, as witnessed by SAS Gunnery Sergeant Clint McAron.


McAron dashed over to the fallen wall, took cover and hurled a grenade. It landed in between two Cannibals and a Marauder and when it went off, it sent them spinning to the ground. "Fall back, Fall back!" McAron screamed into the night air as the Reaper forces charged head on at them. They had been fighting like this all night long, pushing up past the Houses of Parliament and then running back down again when the Reapers sent reinforcements. McAron looked at the few combat-capable soldiers he had left._ "My God" _He thought. He hadn't had the time to count how many men that had been killed over the course of the night. What had once been three whole twenty-strong SAS teams had been whittled down to seven officers.

When he turned around to face the Reaper forces, he could see that they had sent in a Brute to finish them off. They didn't have the ammo to deal with it and the other Reaper forces. "Keep them back, don't stop firing!" McAron screamed at what was left of his men as he hurriedly swung the backpack and the Cobra Rocket Launcher off his back and threw the side pouch of the bag open. He fumbled around inside the pack, trying to find his Rocket clip. Once he found it he lifted it out of the bag and muttered a quiet "Crap".

He had one rocket left.

He stuck his head up and saw that the Brute was nearly on top of him. He stuck his head down and made a quick sign of the cross. "_God"_ Thought McAron. "_I've never asked you for anything in my life so please, give me the power to blow that great big fat thing back to you, Amen"_ McAron crossed himself again, loaded the rocket into the Cobra and stood up. He aimed the weapon at the Brute and fired. The rocket flew through the air, hit the Brute in the ribs and exploded. As the smoke cleared, McAron's heart sank. He could see that the Brute's left arm and most of it's chest had been blown clean off, but it was still standing. McAron swore, dropped the Cobra and picked up his N7 Typhoon. "Fall Back to the Bridge!" McAron bellowed as he sprinted back to what was left of London Bridge.

The R.A.F had been forced to bomb the bridge in order to stop the Reaper forces advancing past the Houses of Parliament. This also meant that any allied soldiers on the other side would not be able to to directly retreat back over the bridge if they needed to. McAron's squads had been sent to clear out the Conduit's left flank of Reaper forces, to allow Commander Shepard and his squad to get to the Conduit. McAron's team had successfully cleared the flank, but the Reapers were rapidly retaking their position and McAron was losing men by the minute. McAron took cover right next to the edge of the bridge and called for his Radioman, a Turian called Gladitus, to come over to him.

Gladitus took up his position, firing his Vindicator, while McAron took the Microphone from his radio pack and keyed in the contact frequency for Alliance Command. McAron screamed into the Microphone. "Hey, this is Gunnery Sergeant Clint McAron of the 22nd SAS! We need backup!". He kept on trying until Gladitus turned off the radio pack.

"They're all dead McAron, There's no back up!"

McAron growled, picked up his N7 Typhoon and fired off a Warp at an oncoming Marauder. It was then that he realized that they would all die that night. There was no way that they would be able to fight off all of the Reaper forces. It wouldn't matter if Shepard succeeded, they would all be dead in the next five minutes. McAron knew he would go down, but he wouldn't go down without a fight. "Keep fighting, men! Don't go down without a fight!" He screamed as he fired his N7 Typhoon into the ever-growing tide of Reaper Forces. When his Typhoon was empty, he threw it to the ground as he pulled his Carnifex from it's holster. He threw a Stasis and two Lift Biotic Fields into the crowd with his left hand as he blasted a Marauder's head from it's shoulders with his Carnifex in his right hand.

More and more Reaper forces flooded the street. McAron could see a Reaper obliterating buildings further up the road. McAron's squad were nearly out of ammo now. They would soon be killed by the Reaper forces but the more that came the more that died. McAron knew they were putting up a good fight but he also new that there was seven of them and thousands of Reapers. McAron looked up into the sky for a split second. From his quick glance, he could see that there were more Alliance ships in the sky than Reapers. "_We're actually winning!" _McAron thought. If he died as they won the war, he would die happy. For a split second before he bit the dust he would know what peace was like. He pushed those grim thoughts to the back of his head.

McAron saw a Banshee coming up the street and he thought "_Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough". _As he levelled his Carnifex at the oncoming Banshee's head, he heard a man's voice coming through his earpiece. He recognised Shepard. "This is Commander Jack Shepard of the Alliance, signing off. Goodbye, Liara." once Shepard had finished speaking, the Citadel erupted into a giant green fireball. Everybody, even the Reaper forces paused to look up at the mighty explosion. McAron could see a large, green wave of energy emanating from the remains of the Citadel and the Crucible. It was getting closer to the Earth quickly. McAron screamed " Brace yourself!" as he hit the deck. The wave reached them and it passed over them and kept going.

McAron felt an intense burning pain where his Biotic implants were, followed by his entire body. He looked down at his hands. What appeared to be green circuitry was spreading around inside him and it's glow could be seen from the outside. He looked at his men. They were the same. Then, almost as suddenly as it began, the searing stopped. The medic, a young Salarian called Morvan, was the first to get up. He sprinted past each one of McAron's men, running his Omni-Tool over them. He scanned McAron and just said "Incredible. Incredible!"

"What's incredible, mate?" McAron asked, sounding worried.

"All of our bodies have been infused with naturally occurring Synthetics! Natural Biotics, natural Omni-Tools, increased lifespan..! There's just so much! I don't have time to recite all of the alterations! The implications of this are astronomical!"

"Oh my god." McAron whispered flatly.

The young Salarian was buzzing about excitedly. "I don't know what Shepard did or how he did it, but all life in the Galaxy has reached the pinnacle of Evolution! Everybody, even A.I constructs, are now Synthetic-Organic!" McAron looked over at the Reaper forces. They were all still standing, but looked quite dead.

"What about them?" McAron inquired, pointing at the Reaper forces. The Reaper at the end of the street glowed with the same green circuitry they did and suddenly, it took off into the sky. The other Reapers did the same. As they flew off, the Reaper ground forces hovered a metre above the ground and shook violently. McAron and his men watched, fascinated, as the metal plates and steel hoses that had been brutally inserted into their bodies dissolved away into nothing and their wounds rapidly healed up before their eyes. The Asari in front of McAron was the first one to fall. He rushed forward and swiftly caught her before she hit the ground. She was completely naked and her body was wet with a clear liquid that appeared to be water. Her aqua blue skin looked slightly irritated around were the hoses had entered her body, but otherwise she was completely unharmed. She slowly regained consciousness in McAron's arms. As she stirred, McAron looked down at her face. "_Gentleman, gentleman, gentleman..." _McAron thought as he fought the increasingly strong urge to steal a glance at her exposed breasts.

Her beautiful cerulean eyes fluttered open and McAron asked her her name. At first she didn't respond and McAron deduced that this was probably because she was in shock. "What's your name miss?" McAron repeated. "Morinth S'lesh, w-w-where am I?" She said. Then her look of confusion turned to a look of fear.

"It's okay, you're on Earth, in London. You're all right, you're just in shock."

McAron laid her down and motioned for his men to check the others. He looked up at Morvan who was walking over to him. Morinth started shaking and Morvan decided to pick up the pace. As Morvan ran he tossed his Grenade belt off and as it hit the ground, one of the pins bounced out. From then on, everything was in slow-motion for McAron. He leapt over Morinth, head first and collided with Morvan, sending him flying.

McAron landed face down on the grenade. He counted to three and gritted his teeth. The grenade went off and McAron was blown around onto his back. His chest felt wet and warm and he had completely lost all feeling in his left arm. He stared up into the sky. He could see that the Alliance ships had rounded up most of the Reapers and he smiled.

Then he blacked out.

McAron sat on his bed in the medical center. He had awoken two weeks ago and a two months had passed since the war ended. After getting hold of a Medic the previous week, he found out what had happened to him. The Surgeons had managed to save his lungs and heart, but he had lost his left arm. The Surgeons had already fitted a brand new CriFyber robotic replacement and the Kevlar they weren't able to remove from his wound had healed into him, meaning his chest could probably stop a small caliber round. Although, he was still getting used to it, the arm worked perfectly, it wouldn't need replacing and it was powered by the motion of his heart. If anything, McAron's arm was better than new. Command had not yet been able to get any transports on the ground, so everyone was stranded in London. When the word came in that the last Reapers had surrendered and all of the surviving Reaper ground forces had been returned to normal, the informal celebrations had started.

Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Humans, Turians, Asari, everybody was drinking themselves stupid. Well, trying to at least; among other things, the effects of the Synthesis meant that everyone's metabolism operated on a sliding scale, changing speed to counter different things, effectively meaning nobody can get drunk. As soon as McAron was allowed to leave by the Doctors, he went to the housing facilities for the civillians. He needed to speak to Morinth, to check up on her. He'd spoken to her nearly every day since he woke up, gradually realising that she wasn't the monster Ardat-Yakshi's are made out to be, and was just an ordinary young woman. He'd also gradually realised he had feelings for her, and he had to tell her. He managed to find her amongst all of the Military Personnel and civillians who were celebrating. Instead of partying, Morinth was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking tired and sad.

McAron walked over to her. "Why so sad?" he asked as he sat down next to her. "It's a long story" she replied, seeming a bit happier for having seen him. McAron smiled, "They say the transports won't be here for another week, we've got time." She laughed slightly. "You see I'm..I've got this condition it,it,it..." Her voice faltered and she started crying. McAron put his arm around her. "Hey, I'm sorry." he said. "I know your're an Ardat-Yakshi, and a very notourious one at that." She looked at him, with tears in her eyes. "I'm only going to go back to a life on the run..." McAron took a black memory stick from the chain of his dog tags. "This memory stick contains a code that can completely wipe somebody's criminal record off every database in the galaxy. My friends and I were given one each by MI6 to use if we got caught on a covert operation. We didn't, so I held on to mine. Each memory stick only works once, the code destroys itself after use, which is why...I decided to use mine on you.

Morinth stopped crying and a look of astonishment spread across her face. McAron gave her a sly grin. "Morinth S'Lesh, you are a free woman" he said as he dropped the memory stick and crushed it with his foot. Her look of happiness and suprise vanished as she started crying again. "Then there's the other problem!" she sobbed. "I never told you. All this time, I've had an uncontrollable hunger for you, I want you and...you want me too, but... I'll only kill you when we meld! The only person who ever showed me any kindness!" She buried her head in her hands. McAron activated his Omni-Tool and a holographic list came out of it. He tapped Morinth on the shoulder and told her to read one of the lines. Morinth once again stopped crying and a grin spread across her face. "The Doctor gave me a full list of the effects of the Synthesis last friday. Now nobody can be killed by melding with an Ardat-Yakshi. He also said that I was too strong willed to be killed anyway."

Morinth's face lit up with joy as McAron leaned over and captured her mouth with his own. The kiss seemed to last for an eternity, as if everything else around them went into slow-motion. McAron slid his arms around her waist and pulled her into a tight embrace. She pulled back out of the kiss, smiled, then kissed him again, faster, more passionately this time. When they stopped kissing, McAron looked at her and smiled. "I've wanted to do that for nearly a month" he said. Morinth laughed as McAron looked around at the hangar they were in. "This is no place for a young woman as perfect as yourself." he said as he stood up and took her hand. "Take my keycard, go to my officer's quarters and make yourself at home." He gave her the keycard as she stood up. Morinth kissed him again and took the key. "Thank you Clint" She walked away as McAron called after her. "I'll be there soon!" he shouted as he walked over to the hangar doors.

He pushed his way through some Turian Airmen and he slipped out of the doors. He knew Shepard was still out there and, alive or dead, he had to find him. McAron had tried to tell someone, but they were either too busy to listen or said that Shepard was dead and his body lost in space. McAron had had a theory. He had thought that if Shepard was already indoctinated by the Reapers by the time he reached the conduit, then any events that would of transpired for Shepard would only have really happened in his mind, and he would still be at the conduit now. He jogged over to the shuttle bay and pulled one pilot aside. He knew this pilot, and he was one of the best in McAron's opinion. "Hey, Cortez. Listen, I need you to fly me in to Synthesis Ground Zero."


End file.
